Thomas Gould (politician)

Thomas Gould (born July 1968) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-Central constituency since the 2020 general election.[2]

Thomas Gould
Gould in 2019
Teachta Dála
Assumed office
February 2020
ConstituencyCork North-Central
Personal details
BornJuly 1968 (age 56)[1]
Cork, Ireland
Political partySinn Féin
Children2

Political career

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He was a member of Cork City Council, originally for the Cork City North Central Ward in 2009 and for the Cork City North West local electoral area from 2019. Gould was a candidate in the 2016 general election in Cork North-Central, but was not elected. He was a candidate in the 2019 Cork North-Central by-election, but was not elected. Gould was elected at the 2020 general election in Cork North Central.[3][4][5][6] He received almost 27% of the first preference votes cast in the constituency.[7] He was selected after Jonathan O'Brien had announced that he would not seek re-election.[8]

In 2018, Gould claimed that the spending by Cork City Council for Prince Charles and Camilla was "overkill".[9] In 2021, he defended former Sinn Féin politician Martin Ferris in saying that members of the Provisional IRA "were not criminals". Gould stated that the Provisional IRA was made up of volunteers "who stepped up in their community" at a time when they were "under attack".[10]

Early and personal life

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Gould is from the Cork suburb of Knocknaheeny, and lives in Gurranabraher with his wife and two daughters. He was a logistics manager.[11] He is involved with St. Vincent's GAA.[12] In addition to this, he was serving on the board of directors of the Firkin Crane as of 2020.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Tim Ryan (2020). Nealon's Guide to the 33rd Dáil and 26th Seanad and the 2019 Local and European Elections. Grand Canal Publishing.
  2. ^ "Thomas Gould". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. ^ Electoral History - Thomas Gould Archived 5 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Elections Ireland, www.electionsireland.org
  4. ^ "Byelections 2019: Fianna Fáil's Padraig O'Sullivan elected to Dáil in Cork North-Central". Irish Examiner. 30 November 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Pat Buckley and Thomas Gould elected in Cork as Sinn Féin surge continues". Irish Examiner. 9 February 2020. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  6. ^ Roche, Barry (10 February 2020). "Cork North-Central results: Fine Gael's Colm Burke elected on 14th count". Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Momentous day for Sinn Féin in Cork North-Central". Irish Examiner. 9 February 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Gould confirmed as Sinn Féin candidate in Cork North Central". Echo Live. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  9. ^ Kelleher, Olivia. "€5,936 to polish door handles? Cork council defends royal visit spending". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  10. ^ Mahon, Brian. "Sinn Féin TD gives backing to Martin Ferris's IRA comments". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  11. ^ O'Halloran, Marie. "Election 2020: Thomas Gould (Sinn Féin)". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Thomas Gould: It's not too often a Vincent's man comes to Nemo and comes away with a resounding victory". Echo Live. 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Board Of Directors". Firkin Crane. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
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